Sidewalk construction.



G. A. FARNUM. sIDBwALK coNs'rnuc'rIoN. APPLICATION ITILED JULY 14, 1910.

1,010,417. Patented Dem, 1911.

LVI/ENTOR.

" UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEETcE.

- CHARLES A. FAENQM, oErnrLAnEL-PHIA, PENNSYLVANIA. p

sIDEwAnK CONSTRUCTION.

' j specification, grtetterratent. Application nica-my 14, 1910. seria-i N9. 51;95a.. I 1 j Patented nec.' 5,1911.

To all whom 'it may concenr-f d Be it known that I, CHARLES -Fal-ENUM, a citizen of the United States, residing at- Philadelphia, in the county I'of Philadelphia and State'` of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in' Sidewalk Constructions, of which the following is a specification.

As ordinarily constructed', concrete, oement, granolithic and like sidewalk units have not suiicient space therebetween to -compensate for expansion. Thus it is,- Vit frequently happens that the units unduly expand, cause the side walk to buckle in places, which aside from the fact that this buckling renders the sidewalk surface uns even, uncomfortable and dangerous for pedestrians to walk upon, is further disad-4 vantageous in .that .to repair the sidewalk the buckled portions must be broken away and a comparatively narrow new unit or section inserted which tends to render the sidewalk unsightly.

The principal object of thepresent invention is to overcome the above recited disadvantageous features and to provide a sidewalk construction including curbingof neatl ,and attractive appearance, eici'ent in charac.-

ter and which may be constructed at an ex- SQ pense not in excess of the cost of installing sidewalks under the present systems.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a sidewalk construction which The nature, characteristic features and` sco e vof the invention will be. more fully un erstoodv from the following description j j taken in connecti'onwith 4the accompanying drawings forming part hereof and 1n which:n

Figure 1,'is a top or plan view of a sidewalk and curb embodying the inventipn, Fig. 2, is a view in longitudinal section taken. upon the line 4 4 of Fig. 1, Fig. 3,V is a fragmentary view in plan illustrating provide a sidewalk construc-l slabs being normally in alinement.

d thevv lateral :movement o f onel of the curb and.'- paving `slabs after expansionof the parts,l

spective "illustrating modifica-tions: of, the ill-dl vention. l,

As commonlypracticed in theconstructing of concrete, cement,.granolithic 'or like" paving, which includes sidewalks and curbs,

a trench'is first made within which placed I a suitable amount of grouting, cinders'or other material to form a base. Suitable forms are'then constructed above the' base within which lis poured concrete or other composition to form rectangular slabs. The slabs are arranged horizontally for. side` walks and vertically for' curbing and disposed in a single line end to end with clearance therebetween to allow for contraction and expansion of the slabs. However, in

practice, it has been demonstrated that this clearance is vnot sufficient in as much as concrete and the like is capable of great expansion and w-hen the paving has reached the point of its greatest expansion power some of adjacent slabs buckle. rlhis lbuckling of slabs in addition to presenting an uneven surface dangerous to pedestrians is unsightly and requires time and expense to repair. To repair the buckled condition of the paving a portion of each of adjacent ends of buckled slabs are broken away and a narrow section of concrete and the like inserted. The insertion of suc-h a narrow stri p spoils the uniform appeaiancc of the.

sidewalkJ and is in additionv conspicuous for. the reason that theconcrete 'of said strip dries out a different color from the original paving.

`By the present invention the above re-` cited disadvantageous features .are entirelyl eliminated. j

As shownV in Figs. 1, 2, and 3,' the concrete, cement,granolithic or like sidewalk and curb slabs 7, and 7" are formed upon the base 1, f

above ldescribed. These slabs 7, and 7l1 are comparatively thin having 'substantially broad top and bottom surfaces and are arranged in a single line, ed to end upon said base to provide a continuous and unbroken surface the exposedl side portions of salid:

shown insaid figures, considered in plan,

the slabs 7, are triangular in configuration th'us providing top and bottom surfaces 8, and 9, which are plane and the adjacent ends of the slabs arearranged at angles to said plane surface as at 10, which are not right angles. Of course for sidewalks the broad flat surfaces of the slabs are horizontally disposed whilefor the curbing the broad flat surfaces are vertically disposed. By this construction and arrangement of parts undue or great expansion of the slabs 7, and 7 a will serve to force laterally with respect to each other, some of said slabs, as fully shown in Fig. 5. In other words when undue expansion takes place, the slabs by virtue of the angular. positions assumed with respect to each other by their meeting edges slide one upon another laterally. In this connection, it may be remarked that the curbing slabs 7a are generally rectangular but are also formed vso that the meeting edges or ends of the curbing are formed upon an angle as at 12, so that undue or great expansion of the curbing will tend to force laterally some of the slabs with respect to each other.

` By the above arrangement and construction of parts after undue expansion; of the concrete or like slabs has taken place and one or more of them forced to slide laterally with respect to the other, the displaced slabs may be readily forced back to position after contraction has 'taken place, thus pro viding an efiicient sidewalk under all conditions, which requires but little labor and expense to repair and which is neat in appearance when repaired.

As shown in Fig. 4, a somewhat modied form of slab is illustrated, the angle of the edges or ends of the slab not being so acute as in the foregoing figures.

In Figs. 5, and 6, further modied forms of slab are shown in which the bottoms are convexed as at 13. The curved bottoms serve to prevent cracking of the parts under undue expansion in that the slabs will shift slightly upward in addition to lateral moveof the slabs are shown in which the abutting edges of the slabs are beveled as at 14, for

the same purposes just described regarding Figs. 6, and 7.

It may be here remarked that while a construction as above recited is usually installed at the time of making I have in mind making the slabs in advance and laying same at convenience.

The word slabs herein is used to differentiate from and in contradistinction to blocks.

What I claim is:

l. A sidewalk construction of the character described consisting of paving material formed into a seriesof tandem triangular slabs having their exposed side portions normally in lalinement said slabs being freely movable laterally to allow for expansion and contraction.

2. A Asidewalk construction of the character described consisting of paving material formed into a series of tandem substantially triangular slabs having their exposed side portions normally in alinement said slabs being freely movable laterally to allow for expansion and contraction.

3. A sidewalk construction of the character described consisting of paving material formed into a' series of tandem triangular slabs having their exposed side portions normally in alinement and having alternate slabs inversely disposed said slabs being freely movable laterally to allow for expansion and contraction.

In testimony whereof I signed my name.

` CHARLES A. FARNUM. Witnesses:

WILLIAM J. JACKSON, AGNES E. CASKEY.

have hereunto 

